My first real walk - visting a temple

 I followed the side road a little ways and came upon this building which at first I thought was the temple. However, after looking around a little, I realized that it was a private home. I suspect that it is quite old.

 Around the back of the above building, the scene was much less impressive but still interesting.

 A little further up the road and I came to the entrance to the actual temple. If I am reading the kanji correctly, the name is Renkyoji. I climbed the stairs to have a look around.

 The grounds, about three meters above the street level, contained both new and older buildings, but nothing like the previous private home. As I stood here taking this picture, I could here someone beating on a small drum, not actually a drum in the usual sense but a hollow more or less spherical object that makes a dull thud when hit. These are used to keep the rhythm when chanting.

 All the way to the right, the farthest spot in the direction I had been going, I found a small graveyard with only spaces for a few families. The strange shaped window reminds me of one that I saw at a temple in Sendai. Some day I will have to investigate as see if I can find what it represents. My first guess is that it represents the structure in which the Buddha was buried, something that eventually became a pagoda.

This red bush was in full bloom and very pretty.